UK meets Ukraine training target

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has already met its target of training 2,000 members of the Ukrainian armed forces in the financial year ending 31 March 2016, the UK government announced on 9 March.

The MoD has now raised its target and expects to train a total of 2,300 personnel during the financial year. The UK is providing training in operational planning, logistics, medical care, defensive operations in urban environments and identification of mines and IEDs.

Michael Fallon, Defence Secretary of the UK, said that the training will continue for another year. 

Fallon said: ‘This underlines the UK’s commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine and our other Eastern European partners. It sends another clear message that we stand firm with Ukraine in the face of aggression.’

A total of 16 UK teams have been deployed at ten sites since March 2015. These sites include Lviv, Zhytomyr and Desna. Equipment worth more than £1 million has been gifted by the UK to Ukraine, including field tents, cold weather protective clothing, global positioning systems, night-vision goggles and helmets.